She’s one of the most recognizable faces in Black television. He’s the first African American screenwriter to write a $100 million blockbuster. Together, they’re building something most people in Hollywood told them couldn’t sell.
Erika Alexander and Tony Puryear sit down to talk about Concrete Park, the sci-fi graphic novel series they’ve been building together for over a decade, a world where exiled youth are shipped off to a desert planet and have to decide whether they’ll repeat the violence they left behind, or build something new.
In this conversation, they get into everything: the real-life inspirations behind the series, from Rikers Island to the global refugee crisis, how they built an entire world down to the map and the gang territories, what it’s actually like running a creative partnership after being married, and why they’re turning to Kickstarter instead of waiting on an industry that’s told them no more times than they can count.
This is a conversation about legacy, ownership, and what it really means to tell your own story, on your own terms. For more information on the kickstarter, click here.